Although the Government of Montenegro has limited the export of pellets, many citizens do not manage to get this firewood.
The State Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Budimir Mugoša, said in Morning Colors that the problem with the pellets has been recorded since spring and that they have been trying to solve it since then.
"The government first tried to talk with the producers, to agree to provide certain quantities for the domestic market. That conversation did not bear fruit. During the second conversation, it was agreed that 15 to 20 percent of their own production would be realized on the Montenegrin market. That was in July, but not everyone respected that agreement," Mugoša said.
He states that the total production of pellets is 120.000 tons, and that Montenegro needs 20.000 tons.
"This means that slightly less than 20 percent meets Montenegrin needs. In addition to pellets, the price of firewood is also high. Almost 100.000 citizens use wood for heating. If the price of wood increases, then the price of pellets also increases, it was necessary to balance," states Mugoša.
He explains that the Government did not strictly ban exports, but limited them.
"Which means that every producer will have to get permission from the Ministry of Agriculture to export the goods".
There are currently around 1.200 pellet heating users in the Municipality of Pljevlja, and currently not even a third of them have received pellets.
Darko Gazdić from the municipality of Pljevlja said that a long-term measure was adopted in this municipality to switch to pellet heating due to environmental pollution.
"It is a measure that lasted from 2014 to 2019. The government financed that measure for five years, subsidies for the purchase of pellets, the purchase of stoves. From 2019, the municipality continued that measure with its own budget," says Gazdić.
He points out that 285 citizens have received pellets so far, which is not even a third of those registered.
"There are culprits on all sides. The municipality announced the tender on time, we selected the bidder, and in the meantime there was a disruption in the market and the local producer was not ready to deliver pellets at those prices. The region adopted rigid measures, BiH and Serbia introduced the measure total ban on the export of pellets, and many citizens purchased it from there," Gazdić said.
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